Roti? Chapathi? Paratha? Can you explain the differences?!
Everyone else I know called the same thing either Roti or Fulka/Pulka. So then what's a Chapathi? And what exactly is a Paratha? Is that different from Parota (like in South India?) or just a different way of pronouncing it. Naan and Poori are probably the only items that I don't get confused with :-) Oh no...that's not true...there's Bhatura...which just looks like a huge poori. I'm guessing Bhatura is made of all purpose flour instead of wheat?
Also, does it make any difference in the name of the item if you use all purpose flour instead of wheat flour?
I've tried asking my folks, both born and raised in India...and they can't even give a good answer.
Thanks.
Answers: I know people who use these words to describe so many different foods. When I was growing up my mom called it Chapathi (whole wheat flour, mixed with water and salt, rolled out, dry heated on a skillet, then puffed up on a rack. She never used any oil at all...but she liked to butter the end product).
Everyone else I know called the same thing either Roti or Fulka/Pulka. So then what's a Chapathi? And what exactly is a Paratha? Is that different from Parota (like in South India?) or just a different way of pronouncing it. Naan and Poori are probably the only items that I don't get confused with :-) Oh no...that's not true...there's Bhatura...which just looks like a huge poori. I'm guessing Bhatura is made of all purpose flour instead of wheat?
Also, does it make any difference in the name of the item if you use all purpose flour instead of wheat flour?
I've tried asking my folks, both born and raised in India...and they can't even give a good answer.
Thanks.
Roti
In Indonesia and Malaysia the term encompasses all forms of bread including western-style bread as well as the traditional punjabi breads. Roti is made most often from wheat flour, cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a tawa. Like breads around the world, roti is a staple accompaniment to other foods, maybe spread with ghee (clarified butter) or yoghurt, used as a scoop, or rolled up with a filling.
In Thailand, "roti" refers to the maida paratha—known in Malaysia as roti canai and in Singapore as roti prata—which is typically drizzled with condensed milk, rolled up, and eaten as a hot snack.
Chapati
Chapati or chapatti (Marathi: ???? Hindi: ?????, Urdu: ?????, IPA: [c?pa:t?i]) is a type of roti or Indian bread eaten in South Asia and East Africa. In many areas of South Asia, particularly the north of the subcontinent, and in East Africa, it is the staple food. It is made from a dough of atta flour (whole grain durum wheat), water and salt by rolling the dough out into discs of approximately twelve centimeters in diameter and browning the discs on both sides on a very hot, dry tava or frying pan (preferably not one coated with Teflon or other nonstick material). If the chapati is held for about half a second directly into an open flame, causing it to puff up with steam like a balloon, it becomes the Gujrathi and Punjabi phulka. The steaming (ballooning) step can also be achieved by placing the chapati in a microwave oven for five to ten seconds. However, because microwave cooking can cause the chapati to become soggy, a heated grill or open gas flame is recommended.
Often, the finished chapatis are brushed with ghee (clarified butter). Variations include replacing part of the wheat flour with pearl millet (bajra) or maize (makka) or (jowar) flour. The chapatis are then referred to in Hindi as bajra roti or makke ki roti and in Marathi bhakri. When a mixture of pearl millet, maize and gram flour is used, the chapati is called a missi roti. In the southern and eastern parts, one cannot have that option for all the terms roti, chapati, paratha or kulcha would imply majorly, if not exclusively maida contents. In some parts of Maharashtra, chapati is called poli. In Gujarat and Punjab it is called rotli or phulka.
Chapatis are usually eaten with cooked dal (lentil soup) or vegetable (Indian curry) dishes, and pieces of the chapati are used to wrap around and pick up each bite of the cooked dish.
Parata
Paratha is a flatbread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is usually made with whole-wheat flour, pan fried in ghee / cooking oil, and often stuffed with vegetables, especially boiled potatoes, radish or cauliflower and/or paneer (Indian cheese). A paratha (especially a stuffed one) could be eaten simply with a blob of butter spread on top but it is best served with pickles and yoghurt, or thick spicy curries of meat and vegetables. Some people prefer to roll up the Paratha into a "pipe" and eat it with tea, often dipping the Paratha into the tea.
The paratha can either be round, square or triangular. In the former, the stuffing is simply mixed with the kneaded flour and the Paratha is prepared like the roti, but in the latter two, the Peda (ball of kneaded flour) is flattened into a flattened shape, the stuffing is kept in the middle and the flatbread is now closed around the stuffing like an envelope. The two variants differ in the fact that while the former is like a thick (in terms of width) version of the Roti with filling inside; the latter two, have discernible soft layers if one "opens" the crispier shell layers.
The Paratha has a social connotation too. The significantly higher expenditure and effort in preparing the Paratha when compared with the daily Roti means that the Paratha is usually prepared as a special item, or for important guests.
The paratha was conceived in ancient north India but it is unclear which particular north Indian cuisines actually inspired it. Its origin is likely to have been a result of several influences (Sindhi, Punjabi, Garhwali, Bihari, Bengali and so on). Regardless of its origins, it soon became popular all over South Asia. All south Indian states have their own versions of the ubiquitous paratha, the most popular being "Kerala Paratha," also called Kerala Porotta. The Kerala Paratha is popular all over India so it can be said that the humble paratha has come full circle.
Indian immigrants took this dish to Malaysia, Mauritius (where it is known as farata) and Singapore, resulting in variations such as roti canai and roti prata. In Myanmar (Burma), where it is known as palata, it is eaten with curries or cooked with either egg or mutton, or as a dessert with white sugar. Htat ta ya, literally 'a hundred layers', is a fried flaky multilayered paratha with either sugar or boiled peas (pè byouk). Paratha in Trinidad and Tobago differs from the south Asian paratha in that it is generally thinner and larger. In Trinidad and Tobago it is commonly called "buss up shut" ("burst-up shirt"), especially by non-Indo-Trinidadians
hi there!
I'll try to break it down the simpliest way possible!
A Chapathi is also known as a Chapati.
~ It is a type of roti or indian bread eaten in south asia and east africa.
~ made of dough of atta flour (whole grain durum wheat), salt and water and rolling the dough out to be 12 centimeters in diameter.
~ Cooked in a tava or frying pan ( not using any nonstick formula)
~ chapapthi held close to an open flame causes it to puff up with steam (sorta like a balloon).
~ usually brushed with ghee (Clarified butter) then eaten!
Paratha is a flatbread orinated in the Indian subcontinent.
~made with whole wheat pan fried in ghee/ cooking oil, often stuffed with vegetables such as cauliflower, potatoes, and cheese.
~usuall served with pickles and yogurt or thick spicy curries of meat and veggies.
~The shape can either be round, square or triangler
Parota is spelled like Parotta
~ don't confuse it with Paratha b/c they aren't the same thing!
~ Parotta is often eaten in south india and Paratha comes from northern india.
~ Parottas are avialiable in hotels and road side shops ( more easy to get a hold of then Paratha)
~ It is also served in marriage and religious festival and feasts
~ Since the ingredients include a large amount of oil/ghee and eggs, it is high in cholesterol content.
~ Usually, Parottas are relished with chicken, mutton or beef saalna, a spicy sauce. (Other variants of the common parottas are Kerala porotta, Chilli Parotta, Coin parotta, Veechu parotta and Kothu parotta.)
^ all the information listed above maybe some people do call Chapathi roti the correct way is Chapathi roti or Paratha roti or Parottas roti (b/c it is a roti but just didn't types)
Bhatoora
~ Soft and fluffy indian fried bread often eaten with chickapea curry, choley making the classic Punjabi dish chole bhature,even though it originated in Delhi and the surrounding areas.
~ A typical recipe includes white flour (maida), yogurt, ghee or oil, and yeast. Once kneaded well, the dough is left to rise, and then small balls of it are either hand rolled or flattened using a rolling pin. Then the bread is deep fried until they puff up into a lightly browned soft fluffy bread, which is elastic and chewy.
~ A cholesterol-free variant is the kulcha, which can be baked or cooked on a flat pan and is garnished with coriander leaves. It is cooked from the same dough.
I love poori and roti. Can't get enough..especially with curried chicken.
roti, chapati, and fulka are all the same.
parantha and parota is the same. these are just basically like stuffed roti